Jo’s Ducat Salad

This is a very nice salad that Jo fixes quite often for her pastors.

Salad

• 1 large container of Fresh organic baby greens

The following are amounts to your liking:

• Red Grapes sliced in half
• Avocado's peeled and cut into bite size pieces, sprinkled and tossed with lemon juice to prevent browning
• Bacon cut into 1-inch pieces and fried to a hard crisp

Dressing
On the reverse side of Good Season Italian dry salad dressing package is their recipe to make their dressing.  The only change you make to this recipe is to substitute the vinegar for balsamic vinegar, then make as directed. Let sit for 30 minutes before using.

Toss the greens with the dressing JUST before serving.  Then layer in order written.  You can plate the salad or make a large bowl.

Thank you for sharing your recipe, Jo K.!

Roasted Shrimp and Tabouleh Salad

Fresh, bright and super easy to bring together. This salad is delicious at room temperature and cold.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1 box Far East Tabouleh Wheat Salad
• 2 to 3 green onions
• 1 small cucumber
• 1 large tomato
• juice of 1 medium lemon
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 (4 ounce) package crumbled Feta cheese

• 15 to 20 raw shrimp, shelled & deveined
• olive oil
• salt & fresh ground pepper

Prepare the tabouleh as directed on the package. This first step requires that the tabouleh sit in the frig for one hour, so account for that.  I started the tabouleh in the morning before my day got started. Anyhoo.

By dinner time: Heat the oven to 400ºF

Chop the green onions, cucumber and tomato into the same size small chunks and place in large bowl.  Set aside.

Place the shrimp on a cookie sheet, drizzle a little olive oil on top, season with salt and pepper.  Toss with clean hands until shrimp is well coated.  Distribute shrimp evenly on cookie sheet.  Roast for 6 to 8 minutes until shrimp is pink and opaque.  Allow to cool a few minutes before adding to salad mix.

In the large bowl with the onions, cucumber and tomato, stir in the shrimp, lemon juice, and oil THEN toss in tabouleh and feta.  Serve at room temperature or refrigerate it for later.

Caesar Chicken Salad

I enjoyed this salad for three days in a row! I changed up the salad dressing and shredded cheese topping each day, so I wouldn't feel like I was eating the same ol'salad.

I used the extra Caesar Chicken fillets from the night before to make this salad filling and keep away the hunger pains until dinner time.

LUNCH FOR 3 DAYS

• 1/2 head of dark green leaf lettuce
• 2 large carrots thinly sliced
• 2 to 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• Parmesan and/or cheddar cheese
• Briannas Homestyle Caesar dressing, Honey Mustard dressing, and/or Blush Wine Vinaigrette
• 3 Caesar Chicken fillets, sliced into bite size pieces.

Wash and prep the veggies; toss them together in a large bowl. Using 3 of your favorite lunch storage containers, pour 2 to 3 tablespoons of one dressing on the bottom of each container. Lay the chicken fillet pieces on top of the dressing. Next add as much shredded cheese as you like and top with tossed salad. Cover with a secure lid. Bag up a few of your favorite crackers, a napkin and a fork while you're in an assembly mood, just to save yourself time later.

You have lunch ready for the next 3 days! YEAH!!! When you're ready to eat, turn the closed container upside down and shake it like an Etch-A-Sketch.

You can mix up any of your favorite veggies to go with the Caesar chicken fillets. Chicken goes with everything!

Spinach and Roasted Garlic Salad

The roasted garlic is sweet and mild in this salad. And no, you don't the papery skin, eww!

The original recipe for Spinach & Roast Garlic Salad came from the Italian cookbook I keep mentioning. It called for toasted pine nuts. Unfortunately, they were burned in the toasting process and we had to get out the slivered almonds and make do. (Or is it 'make due'?) ANYHOO.

HERE'S ALL YOU NEED

• 12 garlic cloves (1 garlic bulb) , UNpeeled
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 pound baby spinach leaves
• 1/2 cup pine nuts or slivered almonds, lightly toasted
• juice of 1/2 large lemon
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Place garlic in a small baking pan, toss in 2 tablespoons of oil and bake for about 15 minutes, until the cloves are slightly charred around the edges.

Meanwhile, rinse spinach leaves and dry them with a salad spinner. Move leaves to a large serving bowl. Quickly and lightly toast nuts. Allow to cool slightly and sprinkle on top of spinach.

While still warm, pour the garlic in with the spinach, add lemon juice, remaining olive oil and a little salt. Toss well and add black pepper to taste.

Serve immediately, inviting everyone to squeeze the softened garlic puree out of the skin to eat.
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My Two Cents: PINE NUTS

TOTALLY OVERRATED NUT

First of all, I paid $3.33 for 1/2 cup. That was my first feeling of being taken for a ride.
I've never eaten them in my whole life. I've watched my favorite TV cooks talk about them as if rare treats. "So fun to toast up and always keep on hand." Up until this recipe, I thought I was really missing out on something.

Even though we (Anna & I) had over toasted the nuts, we were able to salvage a few for tasting. They are the most mild tasting nut. So mild, they border flavorless. This was when I felt the second wave of being taken for a ride. "THAT'S IT? What are all those TV cooks going on about?"

Almonds, pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, they have so much more to offer in a salad than pine nuts.

If you LOVE pine nuts, I'm sorry that I've hurt your feelings. I felt robbed after trying them and I just had to let it out.